Observational Design Flashcards
What is observational design?
Whether the researcher is doing
Behavioural categories
Event sampling
Time sampling
What is an unstructured observation?
Where all behaviours are recorded
When would an unstructured observation be good?
Not many ppts
Small scale
What is a structured observation?
The researcher uses a predetermined list and “checks off” behaviours when they occur
What is a behavioural category?
A list of observable behaviours
Why would a behavioural category be used?
In a structured observation
What are the two sampling methods?
Event
Time
What would sampling methods be used over?
Continuous recording
What is continuous recording?
When ALL instances of a target behaviour are recorded
What is time sampling?
Recording behav. in a chosen time frame
What is event sampling?
Counting the number of times a behaviour occurs in a target individual or group
What type of information does a structural observation produce?
Quantitative
What type of information does an unstructured observation produce?
Qualitative
What type of bias does an unstructured interview have?
Observer bias
Something might catch the researcher’s eye
What must behavioural categories be?
Observable
Measurable
Self-evident
What must behavioural categories not do?
OVERLAP
e.g. smiling/grinning
What is a limitation of time sampling?
Possibly unrepresentative of the whole event
What is good about time sampling?
Effective in reducing the number of observations that need to be made
What is good about event sampling?
Infrequent behaviours that may be missed with a set time
What is bad about event sampling?
If the event is too complex the observer might miss key info.
